Scheme To Provide Assistance To Students Seeking Education Outside Goa In Any Field Of Art And Culture(SPASSEOGFAC)

Overview

About SPASSEOGFAC

The Scheme to Provide Assistance to Students Seeking Education Outside Goa in Any Field of Art and Culture pays a Goa-born student part of the cost of training in music, dance, theatre, fine art, folk art or photography at an institution or under a guru outside the state. The ceiling is Rs 1,20,000 for a course outside Goa and Rs 3,00,000 for one outside India, or the actual cost if that is lower, and the Directorate of Art and Culture's own Citizen's Charter adds that the limit "does not mean that the applicant shall get the assistance upto the maximum limit" (Directorate of Art and Culture, Citizen's Charter 2022-2023).

What students actually receive sits well below that line. The Directorate's selection list for 2025-2026 has six new students, each sanctioned Rs 70,000 or Rs 80,000, and prints a total of Rs 8,20,000 for the year, new and continuing students together (selection list, 2025-2026).

The scheme dates from 2008. It was notified on 15 April 2008 and first published in the Official Gazette on 2 May 2008, as the Directorate's 2025 amendment recites (Official Gazette, Series I No. 5, 2 May 2025). It belongs to the Directorate of Art and Culture, not to the Directorate of Higher Education, and it is applied for on paper.

Who runs it

Provider

At a glance

Key details

Calendar

Important dates

No closing date for 2026-2027 appears on the scheme page or on the form itself; the date is set by the newspaper notice. These are the fixed points the Directorate's own documents do publish:

The last row corrects an older date. The myScheme record (myScheme record) and the Introduction tab of the Directorate's scheme page (scheme page, Directorate of Art and Culture) still say the scheme runs to 31 March 2027. Notification DAC/COMPCELL/10-SCHEMES/24-25/Part file1/316 of 23 April 2025 amended clause 1(ii) to 31 March 2028 (Official Gazette, Series I No. 5, 2 May 2025).

Who can apply

Eligibility criteria

The 2026-2027 form fixes the date on which you state your age: it asks for your "Age as on 30/06/2026", and the guidelines bar anyone above 35 (application form, 2026-2027). The residence rule is two conditions joined by "and", not a choice between them: the scheme text asks that the applicant be born in Goa and have lived there for a substantial period or at least the last fifteen years (scheme page, Directorate of Art and Culture). A student born elsewhere who has lived in Goa for years does not qualify on residence alone.

The "outlined knowledge" condition is tested through paperwork rather than an audition. The form asks what qualification you already hold in the art form, who taught you and for how long, and wants a bio-data of your achievements in the field with self-attested certificates. Someone starting from nothing has little to put in those boxes.

The training itself does not have to be a degree. The form accepts a diploma, a degree, a course or training under the Guru Shishya Parampara, and its list of fields runs to Indian or Western classical music, semi-classical music, dance, theatre, fine art, photography and film.

No figure for the family income limit is published. The guidelines say only that income must not cross "the limit fixed by the Government from time to time" (Citizen's Charter 2022-2023), and the 2026-2027 form asks for the annual family income and a certificate from the competent authority without printing a ceiling. The form's caste tick box (General, SC, ST, OBC) asks for a caste certificate only "if applicable"; the guidelines set no category quota.

Who cannot apply

Exclusions

The myScheme record publishes no exclusion list. Beyond the age and birth rules above, three situations end an application that otherwise looks eligible:

• Basic training outside Goa in an art form Goa already teaches. Basic training outside the state is considered only where not even basic education in that field exists in Goa, which is why the form asks "Whether the course is available in Goa" and wants a reason for the outstation study.
• A second applicant from the same family in the same financial year and the same art stream. A second one in a different stream is left to the committee.
• Other grants that already cover the full cost. The scheme can sit alongside another scholarship only while the total raised stays below the actual cost, and the form asks for every grant you hold or have applied for.

The form also warns that an application "will be rejected if no documents or incorrect information is submitted", and its undertaking binds you to refund anything received if a statement turns out to be false (application form, 2026-2027).

Continuation

Renewal conditions

Continuing students apply again each year on that year's form, ticking "Continuation of the scholarship" instead of "Fresh Application", and the lists from 2022-2023 onward print them as a separate continuation group. The assistance can run for five years at most: three to begin with and two more if the six-monthly reviews show progress.

The amount is fixed again each year, and it does not only go up. Matching names across the lists, ten of the twenty fresh entries on the 2023-2024 list, each sanctioned Rs 30,000, reappear on the 2024-2025 continuation list, nine at Rs 60,000 and one at Rs 70,000 (selection list, 2023-2024; selection list, 2024-2025). The other ten do not reappear, and the lists do not say why. In the other direction, one fresh entry sanctioned Rs 90,000 on the 2022-2023 list appears at Rs 80,000 on the 2023-2024 continuation list (selection list, 2022-2023).

The full five years is reachable in practice. One name appears on every list from 2021-2022 through 2025-2026 (selection list, 2021-2022; selection list, 2025-2026).

What you get

Award & benefits

"Actual cost" is wider than tuition. The expenditure sheet attached to the 2026-2027 form asks for the year's fees with the prospectus, the cost of staying outside Goa and of study material, spending on refreshment during training, and the guru's or institution's admission letter or fee receipt. You also have to state how much you are putting in yourself (application form, 2026-2027).

Counting the entries on the four most recent selection lists, and taking the total each list prints, shows what the ceilings mean in rupees:

Not one sanction on those four lists reaches the Rs 1,20,000 ceiling for study outside Goa (Citizen's Charter 2022-2023). The 2019-2020 list, 17 entries with a printed total of Rs 15,75,000, does carry one sanction of Rs 3,00,000, the figure the guidelines set as the limit for study outside India (selection list, 2019-2020). How many students are funded in a year depends on the money available that year, which the guidelines say in as many words.

The sanctioned amount is released in two instalments, the second only after a complete progress report reaches the Directorate (Citizen's Charter 2022-2023), and the form asks for a bank account linked to your Aadhaar number with a cancelled cheque or passbook copy.

• Financial Assistance
• Financial assistance is given to acquire basic or advanced education in any field of Art and Culture (like music, dance, theatre, fine arts, folk arts, photography, etc.) at State, National, and International levels.
• Maximum assistance up to ₹1,20,000/- is provided for acquiring education outside Goa or the actual cost of the education, whichever is less.
• Maximum assistance up to ₹3,00,000/- is provided for acquiring education outside India or the actual cost of the education, whichever is less.
• The committee may scrutinize and decide upon the quantum of assistance, from case to case, depending upon the nature of training, reputation of the Institution/Guru, and eligibility of the applicant.
• The assistance shall be disbursed by the Director of Art and Culture only after obtaining Government approval for the names selected by the Sub-Committee.
• The student shall undergo training on full time or part time basis.
• The student must maintain 75 % attendance for the total course period or for one year period of the course (whichever is less). This shall not be applicable where there are regular examinations recognized by the University or Board or Government.
• The student can apply for assistance for a maximum of five years (initially for three years and upon review if showing progress, extended for two years).
• A review report of the student shall be taken every six months.
• The student shall be bound to present performance as and when asked by the Directorate of Art and Culture.
• The scholarship amount shall be recovered if the student fails to maintain 75% attendance (where applicable).
• The amount shall be recovered from the student if the course is not completed.

What to prepare

Documents required

The document list in the myScheme record, taken from the scheme's own text, is shorter than what the 2026-2027 form actually demands. The form's twelve mandatory enclosures add the following (application form, 2026-2027):

• A caste certificate, where one applies.
• Attested copies of your educational or technical passing certificates.
• The detailed expenditure sheet and a note of your own contribution.
• Details of any present occupation.
• Copies of your Aadhaar and PAN cards.
• A cancelled cheque or passbook copy for an Aadhaar-linked bank account.

The recommendation also grows. Where the scheme text asks for one person or institution to vouch for you, the form asks for two experts, artists or institutions, with their letters attached. Take the originals with you: the form says the dealing hand verifies every original and keeps the photocopies.

Step by step

How to apply

There is no online route. The myScheme record gives the application mode as offline (myScheme record); the Department of Art and Culture's services on Goa Online are the Kala Samman pension, state awardee applications and life certificates (Goa Online, Kala Samman; State Awardee; Life Certificate); and none of the Directorate's schemes is on the CM Scholarship Portal's category-wise list (CM Scholarship Portal). The application runs like this:

1. Watch the local dailies. The Directorate invites applications through an advertisement or press note in local newspapers (scheme page, Directorate of Art and Culture).
2. Get the year's form. The 2026-2027 form carries a form charge of Rs 10 and is addressed to the Director of Art and Culture at Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji (application form, 2026-2027).
3. Fill in the training details, the institution or guru, whether the course exists in Goa, the expenditure, and every other grant you hold or have applied for.
4. Sign the undertaking, attach the enclosures, and hand the form in with the originals for verification.

Tracking the Application and the Payment

The form ends with a receipt in two copies, one for the office and one for you, each carrying the form number. Keep yours, because it is the only reference number the form gives you. Selections are posted as a yearly list on the Beneficiaries tab of the scheme page, with the amount sanctioned against each name (scheme page, Directorate of Art and Culture).

For the money itself, the Directorate's service standard is the first instalment within 60 days of the last date for complete applications, and the second within 30 days of a complete progress report (Citizen's Charter 2022-2023). Count from the closing date in that year's newspaper notice: a first instalment still unpaid after 60 days is outside the Directorate's own standard, and that is the point to write to the scheme desk under Contact, quoting your form number.

How winners are picked

Selection process

Selection is a committee judgment, not a ranking. The Sub-Committee the Government constitutes for this scheme has no fixed calendar, puts forward the students it considers fit, and sets each student's figure "depending upon the level of educational course", so a short course and an advanced one under a well-known guru need not draw the same amount. Money moves only after the Government approves the recommended names. The committee listed on the scheme page, dated 2026, has a chairman, four members and the Deputy Director of Art and Culture as member secretary (scheme page, Directorate of Art and Culture).

In recent years the fresh sanctions have tracked the year more than the student: every fresh entry on the 2023-2024 list was sanctioned Rs 30,000, and every fresh entry on the 2024-2025 list Rs 60,000 (selection list, 2023-2024; selection list, 2024-2025).

No marks cut-off, scoring scale or interview is published. The factors the guidelines name for fixing the amount are the nature of the training, the reputation of the institution or guru and the applicant's eligibility (Citizen's Charter 2022-2023), and the form states that the committee's decision is final.

Fine print

Terms & conditions

The paperwork after selection runs on the form's clock. The attendance certificate, signed by the guru or the head of the institution, is due within one month of the end of the course or of the financial year the sanction covers, whichever comes first; where the course has a recognised examination, the passing certificate and mark list are due within three months of it instead (application form, 2026-2027). The 75% attendance rule can be relaxed by the Government "in deserving cases" (Citizen's Charter 2022-2023).

The Government keeps two wider powers: it may relax any clause of the scheme for reasons it records, and any question of interpretation is its to decide. A grievance about how the scheme was applied goes to the Minister for Art and Culture, whose decision is final (scheme page, Directorate of Art and Culture).

Get help

Contact

Questions about a submitted form go to the desk the Charter assigns this scheme: 0832-2404623, or aco3-dac.goa@nic.in (Citizen's Charter 2022-2023). The mailbox prefix says aco3 while the desk is titled ACO II; both appear that way in the Charter, so do not read it as a misprint to correct. Have the form number from your receipt copy ready, and because the Charter is the 2022-2023 edition, ask whether the same desk still handles the scheme.

Source

Official links

Frequently asked questions

From the official scheme FAQ (myScheme)

Read this

Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Scheme details are compiled from myScheme, the Government of India’s official scheme-discovery platform, and are reproduced without alteration. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility change between cycles, so always confirm on the official links above before applying. Expertie does not process applications or charge fees.

Explore more

Related scholarships

References

Sources